Omidyar Network statement on Apple antitrust ruling

In a notable decision yesterday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Apple willfully violated a 2021 court order aimed at curbing its anticompetitive conduct in the App Store. The ruling underscores the importance of ongoing work on all fronts—legislative, judicial, and regulatory—to ensure that dominant tech companies allow fairness and choice in the digital marketplace.

The ruling against Apple is another clear sign that antitrust enforcement in the United States
has entered a new era of potency as courts across the country are affirming what Justice Brandeis warned a century ago: “We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”

Omidyar Network CEO Mike Kubzansky issued the following statement in response:

The court’s action is a powerful reminder that the rule of law applies to everyone. It affirms that no company—no matter how dominant or profitable—is beyond accountability when it undermines competition and consumer rights. The judge’s call for federal prosecutors to consider criminal contempt charges speaks to the seriousness of Apple’s defiance.

This decision provides further evidence that we are continuing to move in the right direction on tech accountability. Courts are increasingly willing to expose how corporate gatekeepers abuse their power to suppress competition and hold them accountable when they harm consumers. That’s good news for app developers, innovators and startup businesses, consumers, and everyone who believes the internet should be open and fair.

This ruling, alongside recent cases against Google and Meta, reflects a growing recognition by the judiciary that over-concentrated power in the tech sector poses a threat to innovation, national security, consumer choice and user safety, and fair market competition. This decision offers renewed hope for a more open and competitive internet and tech sector.

Omidyar Network commends the court’s resolve in holding Apple accountable and remains committed to advancing policies that ensure the digital economy operates on a level playing field for innovators and incumbents alike, and spurs the kind of dynamism and technological advances that our country and economy need to thrive.